To see the unbridled joy on the faces of Katherine Grainger and Vicky Thornley was to be reminded of the extraordinary power of an Olympic medal.
For Grainger silver in Rio was the culmination of a 16-year Olympic career that had now brought her five medals in five Games, and made her Britain’s most decorated female athlete. Thornley, meanwhile, could at last put the rancour with the women’s head coach Paul Thompson behind her.
As Grainger admitted afterwards, this result might be her greatest performance of all, eclipsing even her gold medal of London 2012. “That is a medal that not many people would have put money on,” she said.
“There were many, many dark days, and if I am honest were I couldn’t see where this could happen, so to be standing here in the Rio sunshine with a big medal around our necks has made it all worthwhile.
“I remember at the start of this campaign feeling that if I could come out with a medal of any kind it would probably be my greatest achievement just because of where it has come from.”
Yet for most of the race Grainger and Thornley could even dream of an unlikely gold, only for that to slip away in the last 200m as the Poland boat steaming past them. “You never think you will win it but I knew we were ahead,” Grainger said. “We were feeling good. But then we came down so quickly.”
Yet the 40-year-old from Glasgow had an ample compensation, having just become the first British women to win five medals in separate Olympic Games with one gold and four silvers to her name, pipping the tennis player Kitty McKane Godfree who won a gold, two silvers and two bronzes.
Understandably most of the attention at the Lagoa Stadium was on Grainger. But the 6ft 4in Thornley also has a fascinating back story, too: she was a former model and show jumper who was working as a barmaid when she was spotted by the Sporting Giants talent identification project in 2008. She was also desperate for victory after missing out on a medal in London 2012.
By the time of the women’s double sculls final the wind had picked up and the waters in Lago de Freitas were increasingly choppy. But Grainger’s and Thornley’s journey to Rio had been far rougher.
After they struggled in the double sculls at the European Championships, they decided to try to jump ship to the women’s eight, a boat they considered a more reliable bet for an Olympic medal.
That attempt failed when they were deemed not fast enough following a hand-timed time trial, and when Britain’s Olympic rowing squad was announced in early June, neither Grainger nor Thornley was on the list.
It was only a fortnight later, on 23 June, that they were selected for the women’s double sculls – during which time Thompson had been heavily criticised by Thornley’s partner, the former Olympic medallist Richard Egington.
Yet victory often acts as a balm for the most furious of arguments, and afterwards Thompson paid tribute to both women. “I’m not necessarily the smoothest drink in the liquor cabinet,” he said. “But we look after our rowers really well I feel.
“It’s brutal out there. You can see the racing and we have to prepare for them to deliver what they do. They’ve been focused on what they’ve had to deliver here. There’s always a back story there somewhere and it’s been played out publicly, this one. But what a great result and what a great race.
“Big moments take big personalities and that is Katherine all the way through,” he added. “She is an amazing person, and its been an absolute privilege to work with her for 16 years.
“That doesn’t take away from Vicky. Since London when she finished fifth in the eight, she’s just completely thrown herself at it and been so single focused. It’s really just reward for them both.”
Thompson denied he was not as surprised at the result because both women had improved throughout the summer. He also knew it was an open event as 11 of the 13 double scull boats in Rio had won a medal at World Cup events or the world championships in the past two years.
“On the day they didn’t get announced all three of us had a meeting and we all committed to the boat and committed to making it work, and since that point they haven’t put a foot wrong,” he said. “And every day has got better. “They are two outstanding athletes, and I knew if they could put it together they would produce a performance like that.”
However, there was no joy for the other three British boats in finals as Britain’s quadruple sculls team of Jack Beaumont, Sam Townsend, Angus Groom and Peter Lambert were fifth behind Germany, the same position as the men’s double sculls.
Meanwhile, the Britain’s men’s pair of Alan Sinclair and Stewart Innes were fourth behind the brilliant New Zealand boat of Eric Murray and Hamish Bond, who secured their 69th consecutive victory to take gold.
